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Cricket -A religion in India

Now that the Cricket World Cup Season has begun I have lost the television to my beloved father and my dear brother. I never liked this game. But thanks to my Pa and Bro.. I know more about Cricket than I know about my favourite game Soccer. They never let me watch it. I don’t know why. So here are some facts. I know a lot about cricket from gully to first slip to fine leg. From the newest powerplay to leg bye to dead ball. From wide to LBW to run out. I even know a lot about our Indian cricket team. I know MS Dhoni because he is the captain. I know Yuvraj because of his controversy with different bollywood heroines. I know Sachin Tendulkar because he is the king.. oops sorry God of cricket. Sehwag because he copies Sachin. And I cannot miss Bhajji for his doosra and Sreesanth for his south indian break-dance on stage and monkey dance on field. On the other side, its difficult for me to even remember the names of Soccer players i liked and to which team they belonged to. Lets get this straight I knowing about cricket doesn’t mean I like it. I had recited all the Hindi peoms for my exams and mugged up all the formulas for economics so that I score more. Doesn’t mean that I liked those subjects. So I don’t like cricket or do I?

Lets keep my interest in Cricket a bit aside. If you have noticed all the big brands have been banking upon this World Cup fever to increase their sales and earn their share of profits from this hullabaloo. Even the Bollywood movie releases are being scheduled before or after the season. Not that their profits will plunge if they release it a week after WC gets over because the fever would still be on. It is time for all the brands to play gimmicks. Say for eg: Pepsi.. They are out to “CHANGE THE GAME”. God alone knows what they are changing. To me they do not make sense. I would say what they need to change is the clichéd line which has been done to death.

Imagine me in this chaos. Where ever I go I get to hear tales of some so called epic matches.. At home, coffee shops, workplace, streets, in trains.. and out of all.. my twitter stream.. arrrggghhh… What can I say? Even if I don’t like the game it keeps me entertained where ever I go. Do I have a choice? No. Its unavoidable.

They say it is a gentleman’s game. I see cricketers pulling, pushing, abusing, sledging, shoving on the field. Would you still say its a gentleman’s game? Neither are the players nor are the audience any gentle. I have seen matches were it has ended with showering of bottles and garbage after being defeated in a match. And how far do we respect our players. You love them because you can burn their puppets when they don’t perform well? Throw stones at their houses, harming their family members in case we lose. This is the scene with common man. What do our news channels do? They make the cricketers sit on their heads when they are in form otherwise they are embarrassed to the core.

Not that our cricketers take this game seriously. They just want to be capable enough with the game so that they could endorse products. There have been reports where the players were in studios shooting for ads when they should be on field practicing. All these so called famous figures have caused heavy damage to the careers of upcoming models. These ad film makers don’t employ them anymore. I think at least I am justified for disliking this game.

Anyway, some body had told me that we should see both aspects of a situation. So I will try and do that. One thing good that happens during such events is that we see tremendous unity amongst people. They do not get into religious issues like some Hindu player scored more or Muslim player scored more. All of us want India to win. Cricket becomes religion. And no matter how sad you are with your life, in an attempt to know what the score is you tend to forget rest of the troubles of life. The entire nation bonds really well, where ever they are spread across the nation. They cheer for the six and regret the loss of a wicket. I would say Cricket, to an extent has maintained India’s unity and facilitated bonding through this platform.

As for my the situation in my house right now.. I hate my brother more than ever, because he doesn’t even move his bum to get a glass of water for himself and he has solid backing, my Pa. I am in minority in this house right now because even Mom asks for the score in between. So I would rather not speak against cricket and call myself racist here.. Love it. Loathe it. Cricket is here to stay to give people hope and fill marketers pockets… Lets see how much can Cricket entertain me now. I am giving it a chance. Happy (not so happy) World Cup Season!

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2 thoughts on “Cricket -A religion in India”

Nice article !! and its true that this game has lost the “Pride to play for INDIA”. It only about the Money game !! i have written few topics on CRICKET and others too !! Hope you would like my blog is : http://opinionurvoice.blogspot.com/